Policy Text
University of California, San Francisco
Police Department General Orders
1
4.6 Patrol Operations
4.6.2 Follow -up Investigations by Patrol Officers (Revised: 7/3/24 )
A. Follow -up investigations may include interviews with victims and witnesses, the
interrogation of suspects, determining the exact circumstances of the crime, possible
recovery of stolen property, identification and apprehension of the offender, determining
if other crimes may have been committed by the suspect and preparing the case for court.
B. While the Police Department does not have its own victim/ witness advocate, the assigned
Police Investigator will work with other service providers such as those listed in the
“Victim of Crime” referral form, to provide the victim/witness with advocate services
during the follow -up investigation process. The assi gned investigator will periodically
contact the witness/victim to determine whether their needs are being met. Information
may be provided to the victim/witness about the status of the case, procedures involved in
the prosecution and other pertinent inform ation, provided it does not hinder the
investigation or prosecution.
C. When feasible, scheduling line -ups, interviews and other required appearances of
victims/witnesses should be done at the convenience of the victims/witnesses. If
necessary and availab le, transportation of witnesses/victims may be provided by the
Department.
D. Impounded or recovered property of victims and witnesses should be returned as soon as
possible. An exception is made for disputed property or weapons used in the course of a
crime, in which case the District Attorney shall be contacted to release the impounded or
recovered property. The laws and rules of evidence must be followed.
E. All preliminary investigations requiring follow -up shall be forwarded through the
Records Mana gement System (RMS) database. The Investigations Lieutenant will review
the incident reports , assign detectives utilizing the automated case management tracking
system , forward copies of reports to the District Attorney's office as required and return
investigations to the FSD as appropriate .
Investigations returned to the FSD generally fall into one of the following categories:
1. Those requested by the officer to be returned
2. Those requested by a FSD supervisor to be returned and assigned to an officer for
follow -up investigation
3. Those reviewed and assigned by the Investigations Lieutenant for follow -up
investigation.
F. Investigations returned to the FSD will be assigned to a Shift Sergeant who will ensure
the investigation is completed by an officer. Follow -up investigations are generally
University of California, San Francisco
Police Department General Orders
2
completed by the officer who did the preliminary investigation, but may be complete d by
other officers for reasons of expediency or efficiency, at the discretion of the Shift
Sergeant.
G. The supplemental report will be forwarded through the RMS to the Investigations
Lieutenant. The Investigations Lieutenant will enter the follow -up act ivity in the
automated case management tracking system.